by miami | Dec 15, 2013
We can see the bottom!
When we left off, we were leaving Titusville heading south again. We were able to motor sail much of the day with the wind from the NE, and blowing just enough to help add a knot to our speed. ( A knot is 1.15 mph for you landlubbers…)
At 4pm we threaded our way almost to the ocean at a place called Sebastian's Inlet and dropped an anchor in the channel where there were boats everywhere fishing for flounder. Dropped the dink and motored out to look at the ocean – just for a sec cause it was rough!- and then turned around to a park area, dragged the dingy up on the sand and walked to the beach.
Ryan went swimming in the rough surf, and Goose got caught in a wave while chasing a sea gull. As soon as we took his leash off, he went crazy on the beach as he has been cooped up on the boat lately.
The beach was awesome as it seemed no one had been there in a long time.
We left early the 12th with the wind howling from the north gusting to 40 mph all day. The run was down a long bay open to the wind and we flew, passing any boat in our way…
After a short fuel stop, we made it to Jupiter Inlet trying to get out of the wind. The bridges really start becoming a nuisance here as they only open every 30 minutes and if you miss it by one minute you wait 29 for the next opening!
We slid through three bridges searching for somewhere to anchor, and finally found a spot just big and deep enough for one boat just out of the channel – and out of that wind!
Early on Friday the 13th we were underway and close to Palm Beach. We pulled into Old Port Cove at 1030 and dropped an anchor in the cove Shelly and I lived on Naiad with Ian when we came back from the Virgin Islands in 1992.
There sure are a lot of people in Palm Beach!
After a lot of walking, some grocery shopping, and repair parts we decided to head on down to Ft Lauderdale on Sunday for the week. This is the place to get some stuff fixed, and find some answers to power problems. We need solar or wind generation, and to fix the generator. I also realized the genoa roller furling needs some attention. The plan is to spend a couple of days there and turn around and come back for Ian on Friday.
Sat afternoon we pulled the anchor as the wind was blowing and kicking up some chop so we could move to Peanut Island, be closer and be more comfortable. Not ten minutes into this short trip the salt water circulating pump self destructed which means we have to shut down the engine! Bummer. Although I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know Yume intimately, it would be nice if she wasn't so intimate so often.
Fortunately there was a pump on board that did not work (of course) but parts could be and were scavenged to enable us to get underway withing an hour. The problem with these “issues” is that they make me very nervous thinking about what will go wrong next.
We anchored for the night behind a bridge on a beautiful calm night where we very much enjoyed sitting out in the cockpit with a glass or two. It's great how conversation returns when you turn off the electronics and sit under the moon!
This morning began with an alarm on the engine that set everyone's nerves on edge. Dropped an anchor and the mechanic went to work again to isolate the issue to a bad low oil pressure sender that was replaced just two weeks ago. Crap.
So tonight we are in this itty bitty lagoon with about 6 inches of water under the keel, but out of the wind that is supposed to start blowing again tonight.
We are only 25 miles from Ft Lauderdale.
Ryan is happy because someone in one of these houses all around us did not password their router and he is playing video games with his friends. BTW he and Goose went swimming today in clear ten feet of water that was 78 degrees!
Sorry for lack of pictures. Blame it on the crew. The capt/mechanic/blogger has been busy!
Oh, and we are getting ready for Christmas!
Our Christmas wish list from Santa? A wind generator, solar panels, a bottom paint job, repairs to the Westerbeke generator, nonspillable ice trays…
by miami | Dec 11, 2013
How far are you going to sail is the single most often asked question we get.
Our answer has always been “until we can wear shorts and flip flops and the water is clear!” Look out now here comes some white (sort of flabby) skin!
As I type this we are passing Cocoa Beach to the east, under the genoa sail and motor doing about 8 miles an hour…
The crew is working on the woodwork and it is a glorious day.
We stopped last night in Titusville and picked up a city mooring as the wind was forecast to blow fairly hard, the crew needed showers, and Goose had to go again. Sometimes I think that is all he ever does. Still working on the carpet training. About 8pm the wind sprung up from a dead calm out of the north as forecast and by 11:30 was blowing a good 25 knots. Got up and checked everything just to be sure…
All gone this morning and the wind is a nice 15 knots out of the east. Perfect for a sail! We even put up the mizzen sail Bill Fowler in Texas sent to us! Thanks Bill!
It is now less than three days to West Palm Beach so we are making tracks waiting for the call to go to North Carolina.
So, we are in the shorts and flip flop weather but cannot yet see the bottom. Soon!
by miami | Dec 9, 2013
Today we made it to Flagler Beach Fl. We are up a small creek next to a Searay motor yacht facility.
There were lots of fish jumping so Ryan got out the cast net and practiced catching some – but not enough for dinner.
Saturday we wanted to stop in St. Augustine and check out a place called Sailors Exchange where they trade stuff they have for stuff you have. We ended up taking the dingy around a creek to get to a Home Depot so I could replace the $200 battery drill I kicked overboard in Savannah.
We got to sailors exchange at 2:30 to find they closed at 2, Bummer. Back to the boat and listen to all the yelling and partying going on ashore.
We woke up early on Sunday, as I wanted to install an isolator oil pressure hose bought back in Brunswick. Although it looked like the pipe I was worried about breaking was about to make me disassemble the damn motor to get it out, it finally gave up and let me get the job finished. While I was in there, there was a small fuel leak from the high pressure fuel pump that was bothering me so I put a wrench on that and of course that pipe broke right off!
Sunday morning no less. And not just any pipe – a very special pipe. So we decided that we were glad to be somewhere we could get it fixed on Monday and just hang out for the day.
The problem was the day was yucky. Fog rolled in about 8 am and stayed with us the whole day. We walked around town in the morning, paid for an overpriced under tasting lunch, and went back to the boat at noon to untangle the mooring.
We decide to be positive and hauled Ryan up the mizzen topping loft to install a flag. It looks great, but we got so wet and cold from the wind and the fog we had to retire below for hot chocolate.
Not long after we noticed the voltage from the batteries reaching a low point that made the captain uncomfortable who then declared no more power usage – lights out and no internet.
OMG we had to actually talk to each other! Pretty cool.
Finally about 8 pm the low voltage made me realize I might be able to solder the pipe so, in a flurry of activity I had the engine running and charging in about ten minutes!
This morning we moved to the docks for a couple of hours, got the bikes out a pedaled all over town looking for replacement parts which were not to be found.
So the repair has held for the afternoon run here ( averaging 9 knots woo hoo!) and will continue to hold until we get down to West Palm Beach, or somewhere with engine repair facilities or we sat somewhere long enough to order one.
.
Shelly and Ryan decorated for the holidays and we look all Christmasy!
It looks like we will be finding a place to dock Yume for a few days while we rent a car and go help the mother in law Sally as she goes through the pain of losing a life long partner.
Shelly and I talk about this and we know it is something we all must face as couples sooner of later but none of us want to… And it is hard as this leaves only Sally as the sole parent we have.
Life goes on does it not?
On a more cheerful note, it was fun exchanging texts with my fried Jim today who was stuck in traffic in Atlanta while we anchored, threw the cast net for a while, fixed a nice supper of pasta, fresh cheese and cold white wine, and caught up on emails and work for p4p!
Life is good.
On to Daytona Beach and beyond tomorrow. Forecast is 75 and sunny. Thank you God!
by miami | Dec 6, 2013
We crossed into Florida late morning.
Since Goose’s eyes were looking a little more brown than usual, we dropped an anchor off a likely looking beach, dropped the dingy and all went ashore for frolicking, sand spurs and pooping. Not necessarily in that order.
BTW we did bring the piece of carpet and slid it under Goose at the perfect moment. It was pretty funny to see him look around with an expression of WTH? You can see me carrying the carpet. Now just picture me running through the sand spurs barefoot chasing Goose while he frantically looks for the ‘perfect’ spot.
Back on the road and another 40 miles brings us to 15 miles north of St. Augustine where we plan to stop tomorrow for fuel, some sewing machine parts and a few other things.
Shelly has a Reads heavy duty sewing machine we have carried around since our first boat Naiad, and needs some parts for it so she can start making canvas for Yume. We need sail covers, a Bimini for the cockpit, motor covers , bike bags and more…
Anchoring was fun tonight as we ran until almost dark, then could not find anywhere off the waterway deep enough. We need at least 6 feet to feel comfortable. So we had to line ourselves up just out of the channel and hold ourselves there with two anchors so we can’t swing out into the Chanel when the tide starts running the other way.
We can see the lights of St Augustine to the south and Jacksonville to the north and it seems every star in the sky is particularly bright this evening. It is warm enough to be outside in a tee shirt and we are all a bit burnt!
Ryan is learning a lot fast. He is learning how to lower and run the dingy (in a current no less), about anchoring, steering and navigation, radios and engines. Homeschooling?
So far so good. We want to stop and make Yume pretty cosmetically but we have to keep moving South.
There will be time. One day we will post a picture and the boat accents and canvas will all be navy blue, with proper sail covers, nice woodwork etc.
Even with all of that, we are still very pleased! And very glad to be in Florida!
by miami | Dec 6, 2013
We dropped anchor as the sun was going down about 5pm today after just 4 hours of running.
On Tuesday we made about 60 miles in ten hours and anchored in St. Simon’s Island for the night. We are trying to train Goose to do his business on a piece of carpet but he is having none of that yet. In fact he is actually a bit leery of the moving around on deck ever since he slipped and fell in the water off the dock in Savannah.
A 60 pound wet dog is not easy to pull out of the drink!
Anyway, we dropped the dingy in St. Simons and motored in to let him fertilize the ground. He was extremely grateful. Tomorrow we will try the carpet again.
Yesterday (Wednesday) when I started the motor at 0630 there was a funny burning smell. I have been a bit worried about the alternator as we are using a LOT of power to run the 30 year old AC refrigeration compressor off the alternator and the inverter. It works but…
As soon as we pulled up the anchor the smell got worse and the tachometer quit. (The tach is driven off the alternator) so I shut it down and dropped an anchor to check.
Three hours later I still had not figured out why the alternator was squealing like a stuck pig and getting very hot. Luckily just a few miles down the waterway was a marina with a mechanic who could look.
We made it to a dock at the marina, and the mechanic and an older electronics guy I had found showed up. They spent 2 hours to tell me my belt was not tight enough. Charge – $380.00
Dumb me. I just did not trust myself, and had over thought the problem and had convinced myself there was a bigger issue. In fact I convinced these two guys too! There is a really good lesson here!
No worries. I enjoyed talking with both of them and they helped me understand some other questions I had about alternators and inverters.
Then as soon as they left, Ryan and I tackled getting the old non functioning generator out of the hole…
This had been nagging at me for four weeks. How to do it, what was wrong with it and can it be fixed with our limited resources.
We got it out in 2.5 hours and used the main halyard to get it up on deck. How many 15 year olds get to remove a generator from an engine and get a lesson on how they work? Ryan is fun to work with. He is smart and willing and asks good questions…
The field windings were measuring open and when we took it apart it was obvious that due to salt water leaking on the main engine and being sucked in by the cooling fan on the generator, the insulation on the wires connecting the field windings had deteriorated, and they had broken. (For all you mechanical minded friends!)
Hopefully we can get it fixed in south Florida…
We got off the dock today at 2 and turned south again after a short detour due to the captains inability to pay attention!
Tomorrow the goal is Jacksonville Fl, and then on to St. Augustine the next day.
299 miles to West Palm Beach and we have to meet Ian there on the 20th.
And the shakedown cruise continues! Hopefully the sunny 70 degree days will continue. Not bad for December!
by miami | Dec 2, 2013
Yume preparing to get under way!
After a morning of installing a couple more last minute storage shelves, we borrowed at rich for one last run to the store for essentials. Then we moved Yume to the fuel dock to see how much the bill would be. It was very nice to find out we only needed to top the tanks off with 32 gallons instead of the 130 holds! Especially at marina prices of 4.99 a gallon!
UPS arrived with our new mizzenmast sail just as we were finishing so we paid the bill, said goodbye and headed down the river on a glorious day…
We made it about 9 miles before the sun starting setting and anchored in a quiet creek for the night. The rum is out and the grill is going for the London broil.
The sunset is awesome. And we are so glad to be here!
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